PHOTO: Bildbyrån
It is not easy to be the son of the great Henrik Larsson.
Just ask Jordan Larsson who has big shoes to fill.
– There is enormous pressure on him because I was the player I was, “Henke” admits to P4 Extra.
Few Swedish footballers can measure up Henrik Larsson’s amazing track record. He is still hailed as “The King of Kings” in Celtic after scoring goals for so many years in Scotland.
“Henke” also proved his greatness at giants Barcelona and Manchester United in the fall of his age by helping the teams to both the Champions League and Premier League title. At an early age, the son also went Jordan Larsson in his father’s footsteps and fell in love with football.
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His career began in Barcelona’s youth academy as a small boy and then he accompanied his father Henke to both Högaborg and Helsingborg where father and son were coaches and players in the teams. Since then, Jordan has gone his own way in his football career, playing for NEC Nijmegen, IFK Norrköping, Spartak Moscow, AIK, Schalke 04 and most recently FC Copenhagen.
Son Jordan
But if you ask Henrik Larsson, he would have preferred that his son, who is now 26 years old, never started playing football, because of himself.
– Perhaps I would have rather seen him become something else, says Henke in an interview with P4 Extra.
– I am aware of the pressure that comes on him, given the history and everything. As a parent, one of your biggest missions is to protect your children, and it’s quite natural that, based on my position, I want to do that. But based on his choice, I support him 100 percent.
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This confession from father Larsson came back in 2015 when son Jordan had just entered the Allsvenskan with Helsingborg. Then he got off to a tough start with zero goals scored in the first eight games, but father and HIF coach Henke wasn’t particularly worried about that.
– He hasn’t scored yet, people say, no, but I, it’s a few other things I look at as an old forward and coach. The work he puts in in defense has been really good. Then it is clear that as a forward you are always judged based on how many goals you score, but I am convinced that it will come, he says in the interview.
READ MORE: Henrik Larsson reveals the single best player he has ever played with – and no one can be surprised by the answer
But there would only be 18 goals in the Helsingborg shirt for Jordan Larsson, who left the club together with his father after tumultuous scenes when HIF left the Allsvenskan in 2016. Since then, Jordan has returned to the Allsvenskan on two different occasions but chose other Swedish clubs instead.
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